Coal-breaking apparatus



(No Model.)

B. B. 00KB. -GOAL BREAKING APPARATUS.

Patented Oct. 16, 1894.-

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICEQ ECKLEY B. COXE, OF DRIFTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

COAL-BREAKING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,412, dated October 16, 1894.

Application filed May 19, 1394 Serial No. 511,778. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern:

I Be it known that I, ECKLEY B. OOXE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Drifton, in the county of Luzerne and State of Penn.- sylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in CoaLBreaking Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to coal-breaking apparatus and is in the nature of an improvement upon the coal-breaking apparatus described and claimed in an application for United States Letters Patent filed by me May 19, 1894., Serial No. 511,551; the object of my present'invention being to provide an apparatus especially adapted for breaking and handling anthracite coal; and toprovide in connection with the revolving break-rolls of the apparatus,means for receiving the broken coal as it is discharged from said break-rolls and for carrying the same away with the minimum amount of loss due to fractional breakage or partial disintegration.

My present invention resides in an apparatus comprising a pair of break-rolls revolubly connected together, means for driving said rolls, means for feeding coal to said rolls, and a discharge-conveyor located below said rolls and having an elastic or brush-like coal-receiving surface adapted for cushioning the blow of the coal as it drops from the rolls, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specificatiomFigur 1 represents in sectional side elevation a coal-breaking apparatus embodying my present invention Fig. 2 is a similar view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, said figure showing the discharge-conveyer provided with one form of tension-device. Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation of aportion of a modified form of apparatus. Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged sectional details of aportion of two forms of conveyer-belt embodying my invention.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

The coal breaking apparatus shown in the drawingsconsists of a frame, A, which may be of any suitable construction for carrying the operative parts; two adjacent break-rolls, B and B, revolubly connected together for coincident movement; two carriers or conveyers, C and 0, one of which is located with its discharge-end above and remote from the break-rolls and is adapted for delivering the lumps of coal separately and successively to the rolls with a falling movement of predetermined maximum velocity, and the other of which is in the nature of a flexible belt or apron having an elastic nap, or brush-like coalreceiving surface, adapted to receive the coal and cushion the blow thereof as it drops from the rolls, and means for rotating the breakrolls at a peripheral velocity substantially coshown carriedbyhorizontally-disposed shafts,

2 and 2', journaled in bearings upon the frame A, and connected together for coincident movement by intermeshing gear-wheels 4. and 1', (indicated by dotted circles) which gear-wheels are, or may be, secured to the shafts 2 and 2' in any suitable manner. A hopper, 7, is shown provided with its discharge-end adjacent to the upper edges of the rolls and in position. to insure the delivery of the lumps of coal between the rolls in case any of the lumps should be accidentally thrown out of alignment with the faces of said rolls.

In the preferred form thereof herein shown, one or both of the two conveyersC and C may be in the nature of endless traveling belts, the one 0 being located with its discharge-end, 8, above and remote from the two break-rolls B and B, said endless conveyer being carried over pulleys or rollers, 9 and 9, secured to shafts 10 and 10 respectively; the shaft 10, in the organization herein shown, constituting the main driving-shaft. The conveyer G is located with its receivingend, 11, below and in near proximity to the break-rolls B and B; this conveyer-belt 0 being carried over the pulleys or rollers 12 and 12, secured upon the shafts 13 and 13'.

The shafts 10 and 10', 13 and 13' will, in'prac- V tice, be supported in suitable bearings at their ends, which bearings may be securedto, or form a part of, the framework A, a portion only of which framework is shown in the drawings.

In the drawings, the rolls B and B and the two conveyers O and O are shown driven from the main shaft 10, said shaft being driven by means of a belt, 14, extending over a pulley upon the main shaft and extending to any suitable source of power. (Not shown.)

"zation of the two conveyers and break-rolls may be modified without departing from my invention.

Forconvenience, the upper conveyer-belt willbe herein referred to as the feed-conveyer; and the lower conveyer-belt will be referred to as the discharge-conveyer.

The feed-conveyer, G, will be supplied with lumps of coal, 24, from .a hopper or chute, 21, located adjacent to thereceiving-end of said conveyer, and will, in practice, preferably be set at. an inclination to a horizontal line, as illustrated in the drawings, with its discharge-end just far enough above the break- .rolls that when a .lump of coal 24. falls from the discharge-end of the belt it will descend with an increasing velocity, the maximum of which velocity (or its velocity when it reaches the break-rolls, as at 24") shall equal or.ap proximately equal the peripheral velocity of the feed-rolls, which rolls will, in practice, be

rotated at a certain given peripheral velocity. The coincidence in velocity of the falling coal at the time it reaches the rolls and the peripheral velocity of said rolls may be readily established after the well-known manner of measuring the velocities of falling and revolving bodies, the distance through which the coal travels after leaving the feed-conveyer being gaged by the height of the feed-conveyer with relation to the break-rolls to insure a maximum velocity to the lumps of coal which will coincide with the peripheral velocity of the break-rolls.

By the employment of acontinuous'ly-traveling belt, as shown and described,for feeding the lumps of coal to the break-rolls, the

v lumps of coal are delivered to the rolls separately and with uniform speed; and in consequence of the acquired velocity of each lump, when it reaches the break-rolls, being substantially equal to the peripheral velocity.

of said rolls, said lump does not strike a blow against the teeth of the rolls as it enters the .same, but is grasped sidewise by the rolls,

locity acquired by said lumps before entering the rolls. Thus it will be seen that the lumps are successively and separately sub jected to the action of the break-rolls, (one lump being broken before the next succeeding lump enters the rolls,) thus preventing the liability of crowding the rolls by feeding the coal faster than the rolls can break it, and also obviating fractional breakage, by preventing the lumps from striking against each other and against the teeth of the rolls while being fed thereto.

The means for receiving and carrying away the coal as it is discharged from the breakrolls constitutes an important factor in my present invention. the discharge-conveyor G and the mechanism in direct connection therewith.

In the drawings I have shown several forms of discharge-conveyers, all of which are within the scope of my present invention. In the preferred form thereof shown most clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, this conveyer consists of the endless belt 0', the outer or coal-receiving face, 25, of which is tufted or of brush-like construction, it being in the nature of a mat having its tufts or fibers set at right angles to the plane of the web, thus forming a cutpile surface for cushioning the blows of the lumps of coal as they drop to the conveyor from the break-rolls. Theconveyer-belt C willpreferably be set at an inclination to a horizontal line, as shown in the drawings,.and will have a continuous traveling movement imparted to it in excess of the traveling movement of the feed-conveyor and of sufficient rapidity to carry the lumps of coal This means consists of .IOC

away from the line of delivery before the next succeeding'lumps are discharged from the break-rolls. Owing to the peculiar construction of the coal-receiving surface of the conveyer and the arrangement of said conveyor with relation to the break-rolls as described, the pieces of coal will strike the fibers, or brush-like ends, of the surface of the conveyer obliquely, causing them to yield or spring laterally, thereby cushioning the blow of said pieces. This yielding or springing action of the brush-like ends or fibers of the conveyer, laterally of themselves, taken in connection with the downward traveling movement of the said conveyer, operates, in practice, to gradually take up the momentum of the falling coal without occasioning any material rebound of the same, thereby preventing the striking of one piece against another with any injurious force, and obviating the fractional breakage or partial disintegration common to coal-breakers of ordinary construction.

The discharge-conveyer may be made of various materials. One of the preferred form the fiber or brush-like receiving-surface of the conveyer. It is desired to state in this connection that I do not desire to limit myself to the particular forms of conveyer shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5, as these might be modified Without departure from my invention.

It is desirable to keep the receiving-side of the conveyor somewhat taut and at the same time permit said conveyerto have some curvature under the rolls and to yield slightly to the blows of the falling coal. To accomplish this end, I have shown in connection with said conveyer means for drawing the receiving-side thereof taut and at the same time permitting the tension to be regulated to suit circumstances. This means, in the form shown in Fig. 2, consists of a weight, W, carried by a roller, 30, resting upon the lower run of the endless conveyer O. This will be the preferred form of tensiondevice employed in connection with an endless conveyer, as it does not interfere with the continuous travel of the conveyer and will readily draw the upper run taut with the requisite tension.

In Fig. 3, I have shown the discharge conveyer O in the nature of an inclined apron fixed at one end to the framework and adjustably carried at its opposite end upon the curved face, 31, of a lever, 32, fulcrumed at 33 upon the frame and carrying a weight, W, at its outer end, by means of which weight said apron is held taut with the required tension. This tension may be regulated as is necessary, according to the nature of the coal and the weight to be sustained, by moving the weight W toward or from the outer end of the lever 32, as will be understood 'by reference to said Fig. 3.

tially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a coal-breaking apparatus, the combination with a pair of co-acting break-rolls, of a flexible discharge-conveyor located below said rolls, and a tension-device in con nection with said conveyor, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

3. The herein-described coal-breaking apparatus, it consisting of a pair of break-rolls revolubly connected, a feed-conveyer located above said rolls, a flexible discharge-conveyor located below said rolls, means for regulating the tension of said discharge-conveyer, and means for imparting movement to the rolls and to one or both of the conveyors, substantially as described and for the purpose 65 set forth.

4. The herein-described coal-breaking apparatus, it consisting of a pair of co-acting break-rolls, a feed conveyer located with its discharge-end above and remote from the break-rolls,an endless discharge-conveyer located with its receiving end below and adj acentto said rolls and havinga tufted or brushlike coal-receiving surface, the fibers of which are,adapted to yield laterally with relation to each other to cushion the blow of the coal as it drops from the break-rolls, and means for imparting a traveling movement to the conveyers and for rotating the rolls, substantially as described.

5. In a coal-breaking apparatus, the combination with a pair of co-acting break-rolls, and with means for delivering coal thereto, of a discharge-conveyer located below said brealerolls and consisting of an endless flexible belt having a tufted or brush-like coalreceiving face, the fibers of which project at right angles to the plane of the body of the belt, means for driving said belt, and means for drawing the same taut, substantially as described.

EOKLEY B. COXE.

Witnesses:

STEWART F. MACFARLANE, ELLIOTT A. OBERRENDER. 

